Located in Saint John, New Brunswick, the Ordnance Building was constructed in 1842 by the Royal Engineers. Built as a secure place in which to store arms, ordnance and the equipment necessary to maintain a military force, it was constructed during a critical period of military fortification in British North America. Its construction was recommended by the Royal Commission of 1825, which set out a broad defensive strategy for the colonies that was supported by the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, the Duke of Wellington. It is a rare example of a military ordnance building of the colonial period.
At three stories in height, the Ordnance Building is imposing at street level. A striking copper mansard roof with 19 dormer windows shelters the third storey. Regional materials, including reddish-brown Mary’s Point sandstone from New Brunswick and olive green Wallace sandstone from Nova Scotia, were used to construct its thick masonry walls. Decorative quoins at the corner joints as well as the exterior window and door details throughout are of granite. Its interior has been subject to careful conservation work in order to preserve as much of the building’s historical fabric as possible. Original brick walls, heavy wood beams and cast-iron supports are exposed throughout all three floors.
The Ordnance Building’s architecture is simultaneously distinctive and typical of the ordnance building type in Canada. With its utilitarian classicism, sturdy construction, and the proven flexibility of its plan, which has been adapted for a wide range of storage and administrative needs over time, the building exemplifies ordnance buildings as designed by the Royal Engineers in Canada and across the British Empire. In 1911, a mansard roof, which is a distinctive roof with four sloping sides, was designed to replace the building’s second roof, added after the Great Fire of Saint John of 1877 destroyed the original roof. The addition of its imposing but practical mansard roof, which added a full third storey to the structure, speaks to the needs of the Canadian military at the beginning of the 20th century.
The only military building in Saint John from the colonial period, the Ordnance Building is also one of the few buildings in Saint John to have survived the Great Fire of 1877. All of the military structures from the colonial period at Barrack Green, except for the Ordnance Building, have disappeared. The presence of this building at Barrack Green is an important reminder of Saint John’s place in Canada’s military history.
– 30 –
